September 27 – The battle against piracy saw a significant win for rights holders and owners at the end of last week when a Rwandan court in Kigali ruled against an appeal that would have seen UEFA and English Premier League continue to be broadcast without rights fee in the country.
On July 15 a Rwandan court ordered Victory TV to stop the unlawful broadcast of UEFA Champions League and Premier League matches. Canal+ International hold the broadcast rights to both competitions for Rwanda.
Victory TV appealed the judgement but the Court of Appeal of Kigali considered that the appeal was filed after the time limit prescribed by law.
“UEFA, the Premier League and Canal+ International trust that their rights will now be fully respected by Victory TV. They rely on the authorities of Rwanda and more particularly on RURA (Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority) to monitor the situation and make sure that Victory TV no longer infringes their rights and complies with all applicable laws,” said a UEFA press release.
“UEFA and the Premier League note that the making available of footage of their respective competitions without authorisation is an infringement of their intellectual property rights and are pleased to see this principle (and the protection of our rights) has been robustly supported by the Rwandan courts of law and the regulatory authority.”
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